Heart of Ice
by CaptainTabatha
Summary: Join me as we watch Levi grow up, and how his heart became so cold and his face so blank. Prepare for a lot of Levi backstory, and eventually meet the only one who can thaw the Strongest Soldier. Note: Petra lives in this story, bcuz seriously, they need more happy stories. Rated T
1. Death in the Family

**Sooooo...I know I know I have like 3 other stories I need to work on, but this story refuses to leave my head. Levi is just such an interesting character that we hardly know anything about...and I sorta barfed out this story in my sleep. I. Seriously. Can't. Stop. Writing. This. **

**Brace yourselves for a LOT of my version of Levi's backstory, on how he became so cold and distant from people, how he joined the military, how he met his squad, and WATCH AS I PULL AN AU OUT MY HAT BECAUSE I REFUSE TO LET PETRA DIE!**

**Well Petra's actually going to become the second main character in a bunch of chapters, and I can't just have her die on me...this IS a Levi/Petra story after all, and I don't feel like writing tragedy...so yeah other than Petra living this is gonna follow canon as best as I can...**

**... **

A small boy was hiding in his mother's closet. Angry voices came from outside.

"Edmond, you shouldn't have crossed Clovis like that," a gruff voice snarled. The boy peeked through the keyhole in the door. A burly looking thug of a man with red hair was facing another, thinner man. The thin man was attractive, and had steely eyes that he was glaring at the red-head with. A woman with raven hair cowered behind the thinner man.

A second thug came in from the kitchen. "There's no one else here, Ben," he told his companion.

"Then no one will know. All the better," snarled Ben. "What you did caused my brother Leon to get gutted you know. I would kill your brother as payback, but you don't have a brother, do you?" His beady eyes fell on the woman.

"Touch Claire and you'll be missing more than your brother," Edmond spat.

"Now Ben, you heard Clovis. Everyone in the house, not just the wife," the second man reminded the first.

"I know, Ivan! But I wanna make 'em suffer!" Ben suddenly lashed out with a blade, cutting Edmond's arms. He cried out in shock, and made a move to get his own weapon from a nearby table.

"No you don't!" the second man, Ivan, sprang forward with his own knife, and managed to cut Edmond's Achilles tendon, causing him to fall. The second tendon was quickly severed as well, inhibiting the man from walking. The woman, Claire, was sobbing.

"Leave my husband alone! If you kill him, you'll be losing your best fence!" she yelled. Ben pulled her head back by her hair.

"If I wasn't pressed for time, I would have some fun with you, right in front of little Edmond the fence. You should be used to it. Until you married him, you were the most requested in the cat house, weren't you? Pity, if we didn't have exact orders, I would bring you back so you could earn us some extra cash.."

"I left that life behind me, you pig!" she spat in his face. With a bored look on his face, Ben stabbed her completely through. Blood spurted from her pretty mouth, and a terrible gurgling sound escaped her throat.

In the closet, the boy clamped a hand over his mouth to keep quiet. Tears ran down his face.

"Kill 'em, but make him feel it for a while," Ben told Ivan. Ivan nodded, and then stabbed Edmond in the gut, making sure to make the cut jagged and fatal.

"And that's what you get for crossin' Clovis," said Ben, spitting on both of them. "Die slowly."

And with that, the thugs left. After a few minuets, the boy came crawling out of the closet. Both of his parents were still breathing, but they didn't have much longer. The boy shared traits from both parents, with his mother's raven locks and his father's steely blue eyes.

"Mama..? Papa?" he managed to croak out. His mother was slumped on the wall, and blood was started to pool under her. "Mama?!" he asked again, this time sounding more hysterical.

"Shhhh...It's alright Levi...Mama loves you...Mama loves you..." she was fading fast. Levi turned towards his father, tears dripping down his small face.

"Levi...come here..." choked out his father. Levi crawled over to him.

"Papa! You can't die! You and Mama can't die...!"

"Here's...the key to the safe. Take what you need from it and the rest of the house and get out...of here. They only reason they...didn't look for you is because...they didn't know...I have a son. I have one...final...command for...you, my son."

"What, Papa?"

"Live, Levi. Obey your father, and no matter what, survive. Don't die unless it's...on...your...terms..." his father's head slumped, and he stopped breathing.

"Papa? Papa! PAPA!" Levi sobbed. He turned back to his mother. She was alive, but just barely. Still sobbing, Levi went to her. She held up her trembling hand.

"Take my ring, Levi. I want it to be what you give your wife someday. But listen to your father, and live, my dear boy...live...remember...we love you..."

Levi took the ring from her still-warm hand, and then rubbed his eyes and nose with his sleeve. He somehow made his way to the safe, and found some things that he could use. The little boy scavenged the rest of the home, packing things into a knapsack.

When he had finished, he had all the money in the house, some food, some extra clothes, a blanket, his mother's ring, and his father's dagger. He honestly didn't know what else he should grab.

As the six-and-a-half-year-old came back into the bedroom one last time and he saw his parents' broken bodies once more, something hardened within him. He wiped whatever tears were left on his face away, and his face settled into a cold expression.

"I'll kill who did this..." he growled. "And I promise you, I will live."

…...

"Cut it off," Levi sighed in his bored sounding voice.

"How much do you want off?" asked an older boy standing behind him, holding a pair of scissors.

"I want it short in the back. It gets in the way otherwise."

The older boy shrugged, and started to cut away Levi's hair. Levi's hair had been long enough to pull into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck, but he was growing tired of trying to care for it. It would be much easier to keep shorter hair neat.

The boy who was doing the cutting was around 13, and he had dark brown hair and freckles with rather bright blue eyes. Several other children were in the same room as them, either watching or minding their own business. They were the orphans that lived on the streets of the Nedlay District of Wall Rose.

"You know Lewis, I saw the town guard going through town today," Levi said suddenly.

"Yeah, and? They go through town a lot. But since we live within Wall Rose, they don't have that much to do," replied Lewis. He was the oldest child in the room, and their leader of sorts. They were street urchins, all of them. Levi had run into them a few months back, and Lewis had been quick to make Levi his sort of right-hand man.

"Well it gave me an idea. If we had gear similar to what they use to scale the walls, we could get a lot more than we pickpocket of the street."

"Levi, where are we going to get 3D gear? Much less child sized maneuver gear?" Lewis asked him, finished now with the hair cut. Levi inspected himself in the small broken piece of mirror they had tacked to the wall, frowning when he had trouble seeing himself due to the dust. He would have to clean that.

"What I'm saying is we could make something like it, not actually go get military equipment," satisfied with his hair for the time being. "I'm just trying to think of ways to feed ourselves better."

"How would we go about making it?" asked Lewis, ever the skeptic.

"Well, I might be able to do something about that," spoke up another one of the boys. He had a broken pair of glasses that were being held together with twine, and seriously messy reddish hair. His green eyes looked large and owlish behind the cracked, dirty lenses. Lewis glared at Levi.

"You already spoke to Edgar, didn't you?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Levi didn't say anything.

"If I could look at how the gear was put together and see how it works, I may be able to replicate a smaller, much simpler version," said Edgar, pushing his thrashed glasses up the bridge of his nose. Lewis sighed.

"I can't just say no. Once Edgar wants to do something...there's no stopping him."

…...

A few weeks later, the homeless gang of kids stood in a circle staring at the object on the ground. Lewis was shaking his head.

"I don't even want to know how you went about getting this..."

Sitting in the middle of the floor was a set of 3D maneuver gear. It didn't have any blades, and it was mostly broken as well as missing some parts, but it was still a set of 3D gear.

"Broken military equipment. They don't need it anymore, and who says their gonna miss a few old wrecked pieces?" said Edgar proudly. Levi had his small arms crossed, and he was leaning against a wall.

"If Edgar can get a smaller version, what then Lewis?" he asked.

"It's your guys' project. If it woks, then we'll talk. In the meantime, it's market day. Let's get to town and earn some coin."

…...

One of the orphan girls, Elizabeta, was on a street corner with an upturned hat, singing. She and a few of the younger children all sang to draw attention, and collect whatever coins they could.

In the bustling crowd everywhere else, the other children were up to less legal ways of money collection. They would mill about the crowd, bumping into people as they went about their business, and quickly empty out the stranger's pockets.

Levi had come up with several ways to maximize profits when he had joined the crew, which was one of the reasons why Lewis had promoted him to second hand, despite his age. Levi had pointed out that if they wore better clothing and appeared clean and respectable, they were less likely to be suspected of pickpocketing. He had also come up with the idea of having 'stashes' hidden around the square where they worked, where they should deposit their loot every few pockets. That way, if they were suspected and stopped by a guard, their would be a lesser chance that they would have stolen goods on their person.

The smaller children that didn't sing would then come out periodically, and they would snatch up the money and carry it back to the abandoned house they all lived in by walking through backstreets. The older children would take turns going with them for protection.

At the height of the busy market day, when the most people were crammed into the square, the kids would split thieving duties. Half would continue pickpocketing, while the ones who were shorter would devote their time to snagging bits of food from vendor stalls.

At the end of the day, a few chosen children would actually go and legally buy some food, as it was still the easiest way to obtain larger quantities of food. Lewis, Levi, Elizabeta, and Edgar usually did this, with some younger kids to help tug at vender's heartstrings. Edgar wasn't here, since he was fiddling with his new toy, so an 8-year-old girl called Penny went with them instead.

It was while they were haggling with an old lady for some potatoes that Levi saw him. The red-headed man who had helped kill his parents. Ben. Levi turned to Lewis.

"I have to go do something. I'll meet you back at the house."

"Kay, don't do anything stupid."

"When do I do that?" Levi retorted. He took off after Ben, being careful to not make himself obvious. The red-head lumbered down various streets with a jolliness that came from too much drink. This made him easy to follow.

Levi checked to make sure he had his dagger on him. He did. He didn't actually know if he would be able to kill the man tonight, but he could at least find out where he lived.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ben finally lurched into a sketchy looking hovel. It was multistory, and more than one person obviously lived there. Levi quickly scurried to the back, and found a way to scale the wall.

At each window he came to, he listened, trying to learn what he could about his targets.

"...and then Jake had us move the shipment..."

"...some'in 'bout rare an' exotic peoples..."

"...'ol Brian's down whorin', if yer looking fer 'em,"

Levi wasn't learning anything useful. He climbed a little higher.

"...So I tell the man he has to pay up by next week, or Clovis would have his tongue.."

That phrase stuck out to Levi. He remembered hearing the name Clovis when his parents were killed, and since moving to the streets, Clovis was a name one came to know quickly. Clovis was the leader of one of the most widespread underground gangs, and Clovis owned this district. It was even rumored that Clovis ran most of the gang's operations from this very city.

This building had to be a safe house for Clovis' thugs and henchmen. Levi doubted he would be able to find Ben tonight, but he was slowly starting to form a plan for his revenge.

Clovis was the one who ordered a hit on his parents. So Levi, who was now a 7-year-old kid, was going to hurt Clovis' operation as much as he could. It would take time, but he would do it.

…...

"What's with the sudden interest in fighting?" asked Lewis as he came to the rooftop about a week later. Levi had crafted a fighting dummy and had devoted himself to training.

"It's a good idea to know how to fight. In fact, I think we should all spar," huffed Levi, ducking under the dummy's hand swinging towards him. He delivered a quick jab to it with his dagger in it's side.

"Sparring doesn't usually involve daggers," pointed out Lewis. Levi attacked the dummy again, ignoring him.

"Well, every man to himself...look, Levi, I'm almost 14 now, and I'm getting too old to be a street urchin. I'm starting to stand out."

"What's your point?" asked Levi, finally stopping to take a break.

"I think I'm going to join the military, and see if I can get into the Military Police," said Lewis.

"And you're telling me this why?" Levi asked in his usual bored voice.

"It's my best option in life. Titans seem to be a thing from stories, so I'll probably never have to face one, unless I join the Survey Corps. In the military, I'll get food and clothing. So I'm leaving. What I wanted to ask you was if you'll watch over everyone."

"If you want me to," shrugged Levi.

"You might have some trouble, since there are some who are older than you, but I think you'll be fine. I'm leaving tonight, so no one will notice."

"Okay then."

"It's been a pleasure. Maybe we'll see each other some day."

"Likewise."

Lewis stuck out his arm, which Levi grabbed for an arm shake. They were comrades, surviving the streets together.

...

"Where's Lewis?" asked Penny the next morning. Lewis was usually there to help hand out morning rations. Levi was still in his makeshift bed, starring at the ceiling blankly.

"He's gone," he said.

"What do you mean he's gone?" asked a dimpled boy named Lucas.

"I mean he's gone. He left. He's joining the military."

"He can't just leave," protested Elizabeta.

"Well he did," retorted Levi.

"How do you know this?" asked Lucas, "how do we know you aren't just making this up?"

"Because he told me last night. And he put me in charge."

"A shrimp like you?" laughed one of the bigger boys, Marlin. "You look like you're five. Besides, oldest rules, and I'm one of the oldest." It was true. Even for a 7-year-old, Levi was short.

"Well I'm the same age as you, Marlin," came Edgar's voice. The 10-year-old entered the room, his glasses catching the morning light, causing them to glow and give him a more intimidating look. The others gave Edgar room. They had a sort of grudging respect for him, since he was smart and could read.

"Are you challenging me, Edgar? We both know who would win in a fight. Books and trinkets won't help you here," said Marlin.

"Yeah, little Levi could kick both our asses," chuckled Edgar, "besides, I was also close to Lewis. He told me he put Levi in charge."

The children muttered amongst themselves, but they finally gave in. Marlin glared at the both of them. Edgar turned to Levi, grinning like a madman.

"After you eat, come to the roof."

...

"You actually did it?" asked Lucas. Edgar nodded proudly. Sitting before them was Edgar's homemade 3D gear. It had been made from bits of scrap he had collected and cannibalized parts from the military unit. And it was small enough for a kid to wear.

"How did you do it?" asked Levi, circling it with interest.

"I took the most important parts from the big one, but I jerry-rigged the rest together. I ditched the sword holder completely. It doesn't run on gas like the normal ones do, so the cables have to be launched with a crossbow like mechanism. They automatically retract, so you have to make sure to lock it with this hand trigger," Edgar explained, holding out two handles that were attached to the thing. They each had a trigger on them.

"They left one shoots the cable out, and the right one locks it. The launching mechanism gets reset when it winds back in. I wouldn't fight Titans or anything with it, but it should serve our purposes for thieving and snooping."

...

~ONE YEAR LATER~

It had been a good year for Levi's little band of misfits. At first only Levi had used the gear, stealing from smaller homes and slowly building their money pile. It was amazing how much more they were actually able to make, and that was with only Levi stealing money. Penny had decided that he needed a burglar name, and she had dubbed him the Raven because of his hair.

In time, they had enough money for Edgar to build better gear, and more than one. Levi taught a select few how to use them, which was Elizabeta, Lucas, Edgar, and a boy named Andrew. Levi eventually convinced Edgar to give him some kind of way to hold a sword, and so Levi now hada sword at each hip.

Their little band was starting to get noticed. Homes were starting to lock up more tightly, the guards were becoming more alert at night. Whispers of the Raven and his flock could be heard on the street. Levi decided it was a good time to take a break.

"I'm going to make disguises for you!" declared Penny when Levi announced this. He blinked at her, dumfounded for once.

"What?"

"Well if you ever get seen fully! We can't have people recognizing you! And you all have to have names!"

It was decided that they would all be birds to continue the flock theme. Levi let them have their fun. They dubbed Elizabeta the Robin because of her auburn hair. Lucas became the Mockingbird, and Andrew the Bluejay. Edgar was the Owl.

Levi decided that he would let Penny make her costumes. They actually might come in handy for something he had planned.

She made Elizabeta's first. It was a red and brown outfit, with a dull red hooded cloak. A special mask Penny made completed the outfit. It connected to the hood so the hood wouldn't fall, and it had a beak. Actual feathers were attached to it as well.

The other costumes were all quite similar. Lucas' was gray,black and white, while Andrew's was a mixture of blue hues and some black. Edgar's was multiple shades of brown, and his hood had little tufts to resemble an owl's head. They all had the feathered masks with the beaks.

Levi's was completely jet black. He found he liked it. A few nights after she finished it, he decided it was time to put it to use. After he consulted with Edgar...

...

"I don't know why you need this..." Edgar said, handing a bottle to Levi. "What are you up to?"

"Waging war. You know of Clovis?"

"Everyone does. I'm amazed they haven't put their claws into us yet."

"Well Clovis and I have a score to settle."

"Don't you die on us."

"I know," said Levi, giving a rare grin.

Levi swooped towards the Clovis safe house. He had kept tabs on Ben all year to make sure he was still there.

Levi was wearing his new Raven outfit. He was pleased to find the mask didn't impair his vision. He would need that tonight.

It was the stillest time of night, and most of the safe house was silent. Just as he had planned. Levi was glad his gear wasn't as bulky as the actual military stuff, so he could still be stealthy. He crept into the house with one sword drawn and the bottle from Edgar in the other. He stuck to the shadows so he wouldn't be seen. Whenever he found someone, he would drip a few drops of the liquid from the bottle into their ear. Exactly three drops each. Whenever he came across someone who was awake, he would sneak up on them and silence them with his sword.

He made quick work of the people he ran into, until he found the one he was looking for. He carefully dropped only one drop into Ben's ear, and after a moment, slapped the man awake. The bigger man was groggy from the effects of the poison.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"The Raven."

"Oh, I've heard..of you. The new upcoming thief. Bit shorter than I thought you would be.."

"Shut up. I'm here because of Edmond and Claire."

"Who?" Ben chewed his lip in concentration. "Oh! The dirty fence...and 'is wife from few years...back... what did you do to me?" Ben asked, suddenly realizing he had been drugged.

"They were my parents. Now where is Clovis?" Levi held his sword up to Ben's throat.

"Yer parents...? Ah! I don't know at the moment! Clovis never stays in the same place for long!"

Levi pressed the blade a little closer.

"Honest! I don't know!"

Levi sighed, and slit Ben's throat. It was only then did Levi feel like he had killed someone, since Ben had awake when he killed him. Levi went through the rest of the house like a wraith, killing most of them in their sleep. He didn't use the poison anymore. He came upon the last one, but couldn't bring himself to kill this one. It was a boy who couldn't be much older than himself. The boy stirred, sensing a presence in the room. His eyes opened to see a black-clad figure with a red-stained blade. The figure raised its sword, pointing at the boy.

"Go run to Clovis and say that the Raven sends his regards."

…...

**I'm seriously taking this so seriously that I actually had a friend go through this first and find all my typos. I like never do that. And I'm curious to know who your favorite OC is in each chapter.**


	2. Welcome to the Flock

**And just because I can, I'm going to update this story like 15min after first posting it. BECAUSE I CAN!**

**I have this story mapped out pretty far, and I want to get it rolling for you readers.**

**...**

"You know Elizabeta likes you, right?" Edgar told Levi one day as they cleaned their makeshift maneuver gear. Levi was now 10, which made Edgar 13. In the three years that had passed, a lot had changed.

Levi had only gained a few inches. He had come to terms with being short about a year ago.

More importantly, the little group Levi had been given command of had changed. It was now a small gang, completely made up of kids and younger teenagers. The youngest children had aged as well, but they still stuck to mainly pickpocketing. But they flourished under Levi's criminal antics and protection.

As for the gang itself, it was called the Flock. Each member was named after a bird, and no one knew anyone's names. Only those who had been with Levi from the beginning knew his name, and he theirs.

"Really? I actually hadn't noticed...I still think it's a bit early for that..." Levi said, still sounding bored.

"Levi, you're hopeless," grinned Edgar. He was Levi's right hand, and best friend. He never made more than the original five sets of gear, so Edgar, Lucas, Elizabeta, and Andrew had become a sort of elite squad for Levi. They were the original Flock.

"What's the big deal with girls, anyway? You never used to care this much," Levi said, putting away his gear.

"We age, Levi. You'll notice a girl one day and then there'll be no more turning back. And you're gonna have the looks to have any woman you want later, even if you're short."

"Tch," Levi glared at Edgar, who grinned smugly. Levi really could care less about girls right now. They were interrupted from their thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Enter," Levi called.

…...

An eight-year-old with freckles and a missing tooth stood outside of the Raven's door. He knocked three times, and waited for the okay to enter.

"Enter," came the Raven's voice from the other side of the door. The boy quickly entered. He was always impressed by the Raven's office. Books were everywhere, as well as a few trophies from heists. And then there was the Raven himself.

The Raven was ten years old, and as short as a seven-year-old. He always dressed in all black, except for a white cravat he had recently started to wear. His desk was simple, and the cases for the famous homemade 3D gear were behind him. Currently, Owl was with him.

"What is it, Finch?" the Raven asked him. Finch straightened at the sound of his name.

"I heard something at my post that could be valuable to you," he reported.

"What?"

Finch paused before he replied. "It's Clovis' gang. They're not happy about the advances you've made recently. There are rumors that Clovis wants to meet the Raven."

"Are there any hints as to where Clovis wants this meeting?" the Raven asked him. Finch nodded.

"At their headquarters."

…...

"So what are you gonna do?" Edgar asked Levi as they leaped about the rooftops that night.

"I'm still planning it," Levi responded coolly. They were both in their cloaks and masks. "Let's focus on the task at hand."

They stopped at a certain building, quickly stashing their gear in a special alcove just for that purpose. They unhooked their masks from their hoods and hid them with the gear before dropping to the street level and entering the building from the back.

It was a shop that sold everything from vegetables to toys to weapons and even to more rare and expensive items. A boy of maybe 15 was waiting for them.

"Good evening, Owl, Raven," he nodded to them.

"How are things, Crane?" Levi asked. Crane shrugged.

"About average for a teenage fence and now money-lender. You know, nowhere to sell my goods and keeping it all a secret and all. The usual."

"We're working on a place for your goods. How's business?" asked Edgar.

"No one's borrowing anything yet. Word hasn't gotten around, or they don't take a fifteen-year-old seriously enough."

Levi nodded, and after exchanging some money and information, he and Edgar went on their way. Since their gang was made up of children and preteens, there wasn't much they could do yet. The bulk of their profits still came from burglary. Levi knew that to compete with Clovis they had to branch out, and Crane was one such venture. It was still to soon to tell.

Levi and Edgar went back to the roof and donned their masks and gear. It was time to check up on the darker side of the business, a place that had been named the Perch.

It was in the more ragged part of town, and Levi felt eyes on him as his dark shape skirted the rooftops. The entrance for members of the Flock to the Perch was on the roof. Levi and Edgar landed, and were in the process of removing their gear when a whizzing sound announced the arrival of another original Flock member. It was Andrew, otherwise known as the Bluejay. The Perch was his area of command, and Levi was the only one who could override anything Andrew said here. Andrew was around the same age as Levi, and nearly twice his height.

"You're early," he noted. "We weren't expecting you for two more days."

"Yeah, why did you want to come here?" asked Edgar.

"I have an idea, and we're going to need Perch fighters. Follow me," Levi said, ducking into the hidden entrance.

The Perch was simply a building, but if you lived there you earned grudging respect from other criminals. It was made up of the mostly older members of the Flock, although there was the occasional younger member. The Perch housed the Flock's best fighters, and sometimes, killers. Murder was something that was entirely possible in the underground world that Levi had become immersed in, and sometimes, it paid well. Or they could just be in the underground fighting pits. If you lived in the Perch, you were game for anything.

"Bring your best people and come in for a meeting," instructed Levi. Andrew nodded, and walked off in the opposite direction. Edgar followed Levi into the room they used for meetings.

"Does this plan have anything to do with Clovis wanting to meet you?" Edgar asked. Levi stayed silent. A few moments later, Andrew returned with a handful of others. They all visibly straightened when they saw the black-clad figure in the room with the brown-clad one next to him. It wasn't everyday that other elite members came by, much less the Raven himself. Levi saw a few new faces in Andrew's group, and he also saw the surprise on their faces when they saw him. He bit back a smirk. It wasn't common knowledge that the Raven was so young, and Levi knew he appeared younger due to his height. It was common for new members to join the Flock to assume that he was some tall older figure, and then become quite surprised when they actually saw him.

"And who have you brought, Bluejay?" Levi asked. It was time to put on the act for the members.

"Well you're familiar with Vulture, Osprey, Kingfisher, and Rooster," Andrew said, motioning to four boys who ranged from 11 to 16. "Hawk, Pigeon, Quail, and Eagle are all out right now working. These new faces you see here are some new additions to the best of the Perch."

Levi nodded, noticing the glances the new people were giving him. There were four of them, and all of them were much older looking. A rare girl member was at the last of the line.

"Here we have Goose, who specializes in pit fights. Next we have Cardinal, who's good with small blades, and Cuckoo, who is officially our berserker. And last but not least, we have lovely little Dove here."

"Call me lovely one more time Bluejay, I swear..." growled the girl. Around 15, she was definitely beautiful, with soft downy-looking blonde hair and delicate features. Levi wasn't fooled, for he saw the hard glint of someone who was familiar with death in her eyes.

Those eyes focused on Levi. "With all due respect, when I joined, I was not under the impression that I would be working under people so much...smaller than me."

"Tch," Levi stepped up to her, looking at her straight on, which actually looked quite ridiculous due to the height difference. "What is your specialty, Dove?"

"I kill men. If you didn't have the bird theme going, I would go by Black Widow," she responded, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Are you any good at it?"

"I think so."

"How many?"

"How many what?"

"How many have you killed? You obviously think you're better at this than me so... How many have you killed?" he allowed his voice to grow colder, more harsh.

"...Seven..." she finally said.

"Is that all? You have a lot to learn..." he walked away from her, aware that she was glaring at his back. He regarded them all when he was back by Edgar.

"I have a plan regarding Clovis, and I'm going to need your full support with this..."

…...

"..and that's what you do with your higher-ups. But remember, never trust any of 'em."

"I don't trust anyone anyway."

"Do ya trust me kid?"

"No."

"Good," a woman dressed in red winked at Levi. Everything about her was red. Her dress, nails, and lips were all a deep shade of crimson, except for a her bodice, which was black. All of the red wasn't the shocking part about her. The detail on this woman that made people stare was her hair. She had used dye to color it as red as her clothing. She called herself Scarlet.

Levi and other members of the Flock had been slowly infiltrating Clovis' headquarters over the past year. It wasn't odd for children off the streets to seek shelter with the crime lord, so no one suspected anything when Levi and his Flock floated into the halls.

Scarlet was rumored to be the lover of Clovis. No one ever saw Clovis, who stayed locked up in his quarters or with his higher-ups in his organization. Scarlet saw him the most often, and she had once hinted to Levi that since very few people knew what Clovis looked like, he might be out in the open walking about without anyone knowing, keeping tabs on his organization. The woman had wormed her way to the top of the ladder, and as Clovis' consort she held extreme power and her word was law. She had noticed Levi fairly early, and she had seen promise in him. Taking him under her wing, she used him as a personal pageboy, while teaching him all about the inner workings of a large crime mob.

Levi considered himself lucky. He had learned a lot about Clovis' group through the woman, and how he could improve his own gang.

"Levi, you know the other youngsters running around, don't you?" asked Scarlet.

"Yes, I do," replied Levi.

"Do you know of any good girls that would make good maids? I decided a few would be nice, to help with my hair and whatnot."

"I know just the ones. How many were looking for?" asked Levi.

"Oh, two or three."

…...

One of the risks of infiltrating Clovis' group was the whole Flock had to give up most of their bird code names. It would be suspicious if a bunch of younger people with names of birds starting running around Clovis' headquarters. So real names had been learned.

It was the female Perch member Dove, or really Hannah, and Elizabeta that Levi came to for Scarlet's request.

"What do you think?" he asked the two girls.

"You're the boss, so you tell us," snorted Hannah. Levi rolled his eyes. She was cocky as ever.

"Well if that's your attitude, both of you come with me after dinnertime. And one other thing, keep an eye on her. That woman has this organization in the palm of her hand, and she might be our best chance at finding Clovis."

…...

"When are we making our move?" asked Lucas. Levi was with him in the stables. Lucas worked as a stable hand, while Levi was just there to take care of Scarlet's roan mare, Lady, who was with foal. She was very proud of this fact, and said that stallion who had sired the foal was one of the best from the Survey Corps.

"Soon," Levi didn't say anything else as he rubbed down the mare. Lucas wasn't the first person to voice his impatience, but he was the first from the elites.

"How long is soon?" Lucas inquired, raising a brow in Levi's direction. Levi sighed.

"Spread the word throughout the Flock. Meeting tonight at midnight, the usual place."

Lucas nodded, and went about finishing his work as quickly as he could. When he left, Levi let another sigh escape. He hoped he wasn't being to quick in his actions..Scarlet had taught him that patience was the difference between victory and defeat.

_But sometimes unpredictability is key..._ thought Levi, remembering another one of Scarlet's crime proverbs. He finished taking care of Lady and melted into the shadows towards the meeting place.

…...

"Are you ready?" Elizabeta asked. It was about week after the midnight meeting, and Levi was making his move. He, Elizabeta, Andrew, Lucas, and Edgar all stood together in the stables. Dove and a few others of the best Perch members were present as well.

"You all know where you're supposed to be. Check in with other members as you run into them. And remember, wait for my signal."

"Understood," said Rooster, who had been placed in charge of the Perch members since Andrew was with Levi.

"Move out, everyone." The Perch members dissipated silently. Levi had a feeling he had turned those young people into future assassins.

Levi and his elites went into separate horse stalls. Their costumes and gear had been stashed here. Levi wrinkled his nose as he stripped and quickly redressed in his signature black clothing. He did not enjoy changing in a filthy stall. He grabbed his gear and stepped out. Edgar was the only other one done, and when he saw Levi, he went over to a case he had hidden. Within were a pair of short stilts, which Levi was going to wear until the last minuet. Boots had been attached to the bottom. As he helped Levi strap them on, Lucas emerged. He was now in his familiar Mockingbird threads. Elizabeta and Andrew were right behind him, now dressed as the Robin and the Bluejay.

Levi stood to his new taller height with help from Edgar. He donned his long black cloak and took something out of his pockets. With nimble fingers, Levi tied the pure white cravat around his neck. The stark contrast of the cravat on his black wardrobe had become his signature look. He looked at everyone, holding his black-beaked mask.

"It's time."

They also donned their masks. These masks did not sport feathers like the originals had. They pulled their hoods up and hooked the masks to them, and looked to Levi. He finished adjusting his mask, and stepped out into the light, with the elites close behind him.

It was the middle of the afternoon and nearing the evening, which Levi had noticed was the slowest time of the day for some reason. It didn't matter anyway. He strode into the mansion that Clovis lived in like he owned the place.

People were starting to notice them. One of the more important members of the gang came up to them.

"And what is your business here?" he asked.

"The Raven is here to see Clovis. I heard that he wanted a meeting."

The man blanched for a second, but then nodded.

"Of course, Mr. Raven. I'll get everything in order...If you and your... companions... would just wait a moment?" he asked, and was quickly on his way. The Robin snorted, biting back laughter. Levi glanced back at her.

A few minuets later, Dove came down the hall, wearing a white dress and boots with a crimson apron and handkerchief, her standard uniform that Scarlet had her wear as a maid.

"If you would come with me, Clovis his other officials are waiting," she said. They fell into step behind her.

They reached a door that Levi recognized as Clovis' meeting room, where he was believed to conduct his business. Dove opened the door.

"The Raven and his companions," she announced.

"Enter. Clovis is on the way," said the man who had met them at the door. Dove allowed the others to enter, before coming in herself. She busied herself with preparing drinks for the seated men. They were seated at a long table, three on each side, with the head of the table empty. Levi was surprised to see that Scarlet wasn't present, with as much power she wielded.

A voice came from the next room, which was really just a hallway. They couldn't see the speaker.

"So this is the Raven. And from what my sources tell me, the Owl, the Robin, the Mockingbird, and the Bluejay. I'm honored."

Levi couldn't believe his ears. There was no way that the voice could be Clovis'. He knew that voice...

Scarlet came from hallway, dressed in her usual red, but with more black than usual mixed in. Levi kept his face calm.

"I wasn't aware Clovis was a woman," he said, careful to keep his voice low.

"And I wasn't aware that the Raven used children in his personal guard. I mean really, how old are you lot?" she asked.

"Old enough!" snapped Robin.

"My my my, a girl! She's probably _very _loyal to you... And you probably know all of Raven's dark little secrets, don't you, girlie?"

"If there's one thing you've taught me, it's never trust a woman," Levi sighed, drawing his sword and slashing away the ties on his stilts, quickly sheathing his blade once more.

"Oh! You're nothing but a child yourself! And how would I teach you anything?" she asked. Levi ignored her question.

"You sealed your own fate when you killed Edmond and Claire."

"Edmond and Claire..? Oh! The fence and his harlot wife? How are they related to all of this? I had the killed almost six years ago now!"

"They were my parents."

"They had a son? Oh but this is just marvelous..." she waltzed over to her seat, and leaned forward on the table, "so who are you Raven? Can we see your face?"

"If you tell me one thing."

"Ask away."

"Why do you go by Scarlet?" Levi let the question hang in the air for a moment. Scarlet, or Clovis, peered at him curiously.

"Because it is a fitting color for my profession. As black is yours."

"Good enough," Levi conceded. He raised his hand to unhook his mask, letting it fall to floor as he pushed back his hood as well. Scarlet smiled.

"But of course. Levi. My prodigy. Already in the thick of things." She leaned back and folded her hands neatly on the table. "but I'm growing bored of this. Levi, have you really learned nothing from me?" she snapped her fingers.

Her henchmen came out from the way she had come. They outnumbered Levi and his elites, and they were also fully grown. Levi recognized Ivan, one of the thugs who had killed his parents, among them.

"Never just walk into your enemy's fortress. I don't know how you and these street rats ever competed with me in the underworld, but it ends here." She sent the thugs towards them.

"You want to know why we were so successful?" he asked her. As one of the men came close, Levi pulled one of his triggers on his makeshift gear, as did the others. With a faint _whiz, _they pulled themselves onto the walls and out of reach. Scarlet's eyes widened.

"What in the world? 3D gear?"

"Something like that," grinned Edgar, who looked very owlish indeed with his round glasses that he had tied to his head with his mask. "They've been greatly simplified."

"Now Dove," ordered Levi. Dove came out of the shadows, wielding a dagger which she pressed to Scarlet's throat. In the excitement of the thugs and everything else, no one had noticed the maid slip into the background.

"Hannah?" asked Scarlet. Dove rolled her eyes, and pointed with her head toward Robin.

"Yep. Both of your maids are here,"

"Hello, Miss Scarlet. Fancy meeting you here," grinned Elizabeta from under her mask. Scarlet looked to Levi.

"Don't tell me..." she had figured something out, but didn't quite believe it.

"Almost every child and teenager in this building belongs to me. Whoever said I came alone?" asked Levi. He reached into one of his pockets and withdrew a a small gun, which he fired a blank from over his head.

"And let me teach you something, Clovis, Scarlet, whoever you are. When you treat your soldiers well, they become very loyal."

The Perch members came crashing through the back window. Madness ensued.

Since the Perch had the element of surprise, they were able to pick off most of the men with guns. A few survived that, but a few swoops from Bluejay and Mockingbird silenced them. All that was left was three members of Clovis' council and Clovis herself, with Dove still pressing a blade into her neck.

Levi lowered himself from the wall. He walked over to her, his face devoid of any emotion.

"I liked you, Scarlet. You taught me many useful things. I promise I'll continue using your tactics, and perfect them even."

"How can a mere _child_ be so ruthless? And make other children just as ruthless?" she asked, her eyes boring into him, "think Levi, if you're this cold now, how will you be when you're an adult? I became cold when I was in my late teens. If you think I'm bad, think of how you'll be when your my age."

Levi stabbed her through the heart, feeling his own heart harden again like it had when he had seen his parent's broken bodies. Now his heart was frozen. He turned away from her, as Dove let her body fall to floor. He ignored the gurgles and sounds of her body shutting down as he fixed his blank face on all who were in the room.

"Welcome to the Flock."

…...

**Because Levi is a BAWSE!**

**So I don't read the manga, so I'm planning after events in episode 25 this story will just kinda do it's own thing and then jump back into the canon when it starts back up. Unless they somehow wrap up the anime in 25 episodes, which I find unlikely. They be making WAAAAY to much money off this series**


	3. Curiosity

**I'm getting great response from this, so here ya go. it's a bit of a time skip from the last chapter...**

**anyway I've been wondering...why the hell are there two categories for this show/manga? there's the Shingeki no Kyojin one that has like 3 k stories and character filters and everything...and there's also an Attack on Titan category with like, 150 stories and a crappy filter. Why? it's the same thing? **

**... **

Levi scowled into his mug as he drank. The damn woman had been right. He was cold.

He was currently seated at a large table with his elites and a few others, laughing and having a good time in a warmly lit tavern. They were still in the Nedlay District, which had become infamous from the Flock and Levi's success as possibly the youngest crime lord in all of history, written and unwritten.

It had been six years since Levi had run through Scarlet, also known as Clovis. And she had been right. He was colder than ice. Despite all of the warmth and friends that he had surrounded himself with, his heart was frozen.

A lot had happened in those six years. Puberty, for one. For him and his friends. Levi had finally had a growth spurt, and he had seemed to stop growing at 5'3'', much to the amusement of his followers. And with puberty had come the fatal attraction to the opposite sex. Levi had... dabbled in the area and found he just didn't care that much. Sure, it was nice and according to Edgar a good thing for stress-relief, but Levi didn't believe in love or anything sappy like that. At the of 17 he had only been with only two women to date, much to the surprise of many. He could easily have any woman he wanted due to his status as a crime lord and his age and looks. But he didn't want a woman, unless he had an annoying biological craving every now and then.

He had been, and was currently only seeing Dove. She was possibly the only person who could tolerate his coldness, and was in the same boat as Levi about love. She worked as an assassin prostitute, so sex was nothing special to her. She was the first woman he had been with.

After his first time with Dove, Levi had considered Elizabeta, but decided against it, for she obviously had feelings for him and it would get complicated fast. Luckily, the girl had taken the hint and was currently very happy with Andrew. He had a brief one-night stand when Edgar had somehow managed to get him drunk. He had gone back to Dove out of convenience.

…..._why am I thinking about this?_ wondered Levi as he took another drink. His mind had wandered off from his anger and frustration. Maybe it was time to visit Dove then...

He sighed and leaned back. Other things had happened as well. As they grew up, so had their equipment and money supply. Edgar had been able to buy actual sets of 3DMG from some dirty Military Police members, and Levi and his elites had graduated to the "big kid" version of something they had been using their whole lives. The others had some trouble getting used to the more advanced gear, but Levi had taken to it immediately. Sure, the equipment they had nabbed from the MP's was a little outdated, but he liked how much more control he had over this gear than the homemade stuff.

But despite this, Levi had discovered he was bored with his life. He found other people annoying most of the time, and all of his immediate enemies had been dead for six years. The new beefed up Flock had been entertaining for awhile, but that had gone away and Levi found himself with no new motives. Before, he had always had the motive of killing Clovis, but now, he had nothing.

_Something exciting better happen around here_... he thought as he yawned.

At the entrance of the tavern, a bunch of uniformed men and a few women entered, laughing amongst themselves. They seemed to be focused on two individuals, a girl wearing a cadet's uniform and a man who was in uniform but wasn't wearing his jacket. The other uniformed men and women all had the rose design on their jackets, showing they were members of the Garrison. The man was carrying his jacket under his arm, so the symbol of his branch wasn't visible. His other arm was bandaged heavily and in a sling. Levi guessed he had injured himself on the walls somehow, and now the Garrison soldiers were taking him for a drink, and a new recruit had tagged along.

He was getting ready to ignore them completely when three uniformed individuals stomped into the room after the Garrison soldiers. They had the green unicorn on their jackets. These soldiers were Military Police.

"HANJI!" yelled one of the MP officers. The female cadet looked up sharply, and upon seeing who it was, sighed.

"What are you doing with these Garrison soldiers? You were number 3 of your class, so you can easily be in the Military Police with me, like dad wanted," he said. Now that Levi looked, he saw family resemblance between the two. His steel gray eyes drifted towards the other MP's. One of them looked very familiar...

"Lee, relax, I'm not joining the Garrison. I was just talking to them."

"What's wrong with the Garrison, MP?" asked one of the Garrison soldiers.

"It's where those who aren't good enough to get into the Military Police go, that's why," sneered a female soldier who was with the MP's. The Garrison soldiers scowled.

"Hey, there's no need to get ugly," growled the soldier who had spoken earlier.

"Anyway. Come on, Hanji," said the one called Lee.

"But.." Hanji tried to protest, looking at wounded man for help.

"Actually, she was talking to me about what to do after leaving training," he said. By now the whole tavern was watching the soldiers. Edgar sighed.

"We should ask them to leave. This is our favorite place."

"No, let them be. I want to see what happens..." Levi said, holding up a hand. The third MP still looked familiar to him..

"Who are you, some cadet that broke his arm in training? I didn't see you in the top ten at the graduation ceremony so what can you say?"

"For your information, you military dog, I outrank you. That's Captain to you, and I did _not _injure this arm from something so quaint as training. I injured this arm saving a comrade from a Titan, which is probably more than you've done all year," he growled. The girl Hanji adjusted her glasses, laughing awkwardly.

"Brother, meet Captain Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps."

"What?" Lee asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah, I'm interested in studying Titans scientifically, and the Survey Corps is the only branch that actually come into contact with them...it's for science, you know? Dad would understand, he would always do the most extr-"

"I think I'm in love," murmured Edgar to no one in particular. Levi gave a rare smirk. Of course Edgar would like a scientist girl.

"YOU'RE ACTUALLY CONSIDERING THE SURVEY CORPS?!" Lee yelled.

"Yes, and you can't convince me other wise."

"Then say goodbye to your brother now, because everybody knows 30% of those suicidal idiots die on each mission," said the third MP, finally speaking up. Levi stiffened.

"Oh my god," he hissed at his companions, "it's _Lewis._"

"Lewis? You can't be serious..." Edgar looked closer. "I'll be a Titan's lover. It IS Lewis."

Levi stood, which caused most of the tavern to look in his direction. The Garrison soldiers had noticed as well, since they were stationed to this district they knew who he was. The cadet, the Captain and the MP's did not, however, so they noticed later that a short young man was walking towards them. Levi still mainly wore all black, but now he wore a black jacket and a white shirt with his cravat, instead of just pure black everywhere.

"Well, you've all been highly entertaining, but seriously? I might ask you all to leave before you start killing each other. And Lewis, nice to see you back in town."

The MP's and the other non-Garrison members stared at Levi, not really knowing who he was. Lewis squinted the most, and Levi almost saw the light-bulb go off.

"Oh my g... _Levi?_" he asked. The Garrison turned to look at Lewis.

"You _know _him?" they all asked.

"Lewis, who is this shrimp?" asked the female MP. Lewis glanced at her.

"I wouldn't call this guy a shrimp if I were you, Stasia," he warned, "he would get pissy about when we were kids."

"Um, are we forgetting the obvious?" asked one of the Garrison soldiers. Erwin and Hanji looked at each other, clueless.

"You know, it's kinda ironic. After you left to join the military we really exploded," Levi said.

"I'd heard rumors about crime increasing in Nedlay, and I remembered what Edgar was making, but I never actually thought..." Lewis looked back behind Levi to see some of the old gang and a few other unfamiliar faces. Edgar waved.

"Damn. You are the Raven, aren't you?" he finally said. Levi just nodded.

"Heh, I could be with you right now... But I guess it all worked out. So Edgar got your crazy idea to work and that's how you did it, huh?"

"More or less," Levi shrugged. "But seriously, this happens to be my favorite tavern. I don't care who joins what branch of the stupid military, but you should all shut up."

"..." Lewis stood, not sure what to say. Finally, he shrugged. "We should catch up sometime."

"Yeah," was all Levi said. He turned back to his group. Lewis turned to his fellow Military Police members.

"Come on, let's go." They exited, with Lee giving his sister one last sorrowful look. Hanji let loose a long sigh, and then attacked her drink. The Captain gave Levi a long, curious look before he turned back to his companions.

…...

"So who was that, exactly?" Erwin asked once the short teenager had left the tavern with his followers about an hour later.

"This district has a history of having mobs and crime lords running amok. The huge Clovis Organization used to be based here," replied one of the Garrison soldiers said. It was the one who had spoken out against the Military Police first.

"Clovis? I remember them...they competed with the Spades from Wall Sina, didn't they? You can't be saying that boy is Clovis?" asked Erwin. His friend rubbed his stubble, chuckling softly.

"Nah, that boy is the Raven. He's the one who killed Clovis and took over her organization, replacing it with a gang called the Flock."

"Barry, are you serious?"

"It's true. That kid is the youngest crime lord the walls have ever seen," said one of the female Garrison soldiers.

"Come to think of it, I do think I've heard of the Flock.." Erwin said thoughtfully. Hanji sighed.

"I haven't known you that long, Captain Erwin, but I know that look. I studied human behavior before I trained for the military and I can tell you it's wise to leave that kid alone."

"Noted," Erwin said, still thoughtful. He sighed and leaned back, stretching out with his one good arm. He would note it, but that didn't mean he was going to listen. The ambitious new Captain was known to get a gut feeling every now and then, and right now he had one about the young crime lord.

…...

_...I injured this arm saving a comrade from a Titan... _The words spoken by the Survey Corps Captain were still ringing through Levi's mind. He found that his mind was troubled, and he thought it was just from seeing Lewis again. But the more he thought about it, the he realized it wasn't.

His mind continued to rove about wildly as he lay shirtless on Dove's bed. The window was open revealing a full moon. Dove came in, still fully dressed. She barely glanced at Levi.

"You seem preoccupied tonight. What's troubling you to have you come to see me?" she asked, sitting down at her nightstand with a mirror. She took her hair down and started to brush it, watching him in the reflection.

"Do you ever think about the Titans?" he asked. She paused in her brushing, but soon continued.

"Well, not really. We live within Wall Rose, and the outermost walls are 50 meters and the tallest Titan recorded is only 15 meters...what is there to think about?"

"Why do we try to leave the walls then?"

"I suppose the human population will eventually overcome our space, but that won't happen for many years.."

"Why do we even bother?" he wondered aloud.

"Because we are a curious species, and we just can't help it. Even if it has been declared taboo, we still gobble up stories of the outside world..." Dove's gaze fell to her window. "I do find myself wondering what it would be like. Before my parents died, they had a book. A very old book, with things about the outside before the Titans came."

Dove set down her brush, and turned to look at Levi.

"I read about many things, and there were even some sketches. I was still very little, so I don't remember very much. The one thing I remember was something called the sea, or the ocean. Most of the planet is covered in it, apparently. Just miles and miles of water as far as the eye can see," she said, her eyes giving a rare shine of emotion. It quickly faded as she fixed her gaze on him again.

"But I've come to accept that we will never leave these walls, so what does it matter if most of the world is covered in water?"

"Hmmm..." Levi closed his eyes, thinking.

…...

It was a few days later that a still thinking Levi walked into the same tavern alone late one night. He wasn't thinking about the same things, but more along the lines of himself in general. He was still bored, and he was trying to think of things he could do, new conquests to keep his brain occupied. He had grown up with a goal, and now he had none, and had no motivation for anything...

"I had a feeling if I hung around this bar I would run into you again," came a voice from the corner. Levi turned in the direction of the voice to find the Captain with the injured arm sitting alone at one of the booths. He wasn't in his uniform tonight, and most of his drink was empty. Levi raised a brow.

"People don't usually seek me out."

"I'm not most people."

Levi sat down across from the military man, and the serving maid quickly brought him a drink.

"So what do you want from me, Captain?" he asked.

"It's Erwin. And if I heard the Military Police officer correctly, you're Levi."

"I go by Levi to some," Levi said drily, sipping his drink.

"Well Levi, tell me something. I've met plenty of people in my time, but I've never seen one who looks so bored with his life. Tell me, are you bored?"

"Perhaps. I don't know."

"Now why would you, the powerful Raven, be bored when you have practically every person within the walls as your plaything?" Irwin asked, leaning onto the table. He had a challenging look in his eye.

"What does it matter to you?" Levi sighed. Irwin shrugged.

"Curiosity."

"...and humans are a curious species..." Levi said softly, reciting Dove's words from a few nights ago.

"You could say that, yes," agreed Irwin, raising his glass to his lips and draining the last bit of his drink. Levi stared down into his own mug, watching the amber liquid reflecting the dim light of the room for awhile in silence. He never talked to anyone, but for some reason, he felt like talking about what had been on his thoughts to this random injured Survey Corps Captain.

"I am bored," he finally said, "and I think it's because I've accomplished all of my goals in life."

"All of your goals, huh?" Erwin signaled to the maid for a refill, "and you're how old? That's quite an accomplishment."

"Tch," Levi glared to the side at nothing in particular.

"Well, it's seems simple to me. Find yourself a new goal in life."

"And let me guess, you have an idea for me."

"Do you like to kill things?" Erwin asked, suddenly serious.

"Only if they have crossed me. I don't really enjoy it or anything...I don't feel anything when anything dies anymore..." Levi leaned his head on his fist.

"What has crossed you more in life than the Titans?"

Levi stared at the man. Was he really just trying to recruit him? Levi had to give him credit for guts.

"Not just anyone would come up to a crime lord and try to recruit them into the Survey Corps of all places," he said flatly.

"As I said earlier, I'm not most people," grinned Erwin. "But think about it. If it wasn't for Titans, and we didn't live in the walls, where would you be today?"

Levi's mind involuntarily flashed to his parents. His mother had always wanted to move to the country, but it was much cheaper to buy property within one of the districts...

"Think about it. If you truly want something to do, come over to the military training camp. You don't have to join the Survey Corps, but it will at least give you a goal."

…...

**Oh, and i was watching the soundtrack videos for this on youtube...Call your Name, man. I cried. WHEN SHE BRINGS ME COFFEE. T-T**

**I often think this about Rivtra- IT HURTS SO GOOD! *weeps***


	4. The Prodigy

**Seriously. I never crank out this much story this fast. Levi, man. he gets to me. Stuff happens in this chapter. Please note that the Instructor is not the same one that did Eren's class. That guy is currently with the Survey Corps**

**...**

"You seem even more troubled than you did a few days ago," noted Dove. They were in Levi's room tonight. Levi was staring out the window, his face devoid of any emotion, as usual. Dove couldn't tell, but his mind was rolling with conflict.

"I'm making a decision that will change everything," he finally said. Dove looked up. She and the other members of the Flock that were closest to Levi had noticed that he seemed more distant than usual, and they were starting to worry.

"What sort of decision?" she asked. Levi didn't turn towards her.

"About myself. And through me, the Flock."

"Are you going to tell anybody about it?" she pressed, trying to not let her anxiety show in her voice.

"I might have found a new goal in life.." he said, skirting around the question.

"Oh, and what's that?"

"That's the decision, Dove. If I want it to be my new goal in life..."

…...

Later that night, Levi stood in the same spot he had earlier, staring out the window. He had sent Dove out a few hours ago, claiming he needed to be alone.

"Why the hell not?" he suddenly said out loud. Set in his decision, he went to his desk and wrote a short letter. He then collected a few necessities and dressed himself for travel. Levi exited the room and headed down the hall.

Levi quietly entered the stables. The horses nickered upon his arrival, and he involuntarily went to stroke several of their noses. He had started horse breeding as a hobby, and had spent many days in the stables with his horses. He preferred to be around them rather than humans sometimes.

Levi went over to his personal steed, Voleur. He was the foal that Scarlet's horse had been pregnant with all of those years ago. Unlike Lady the mare, the foal, or rather, the colt had been pure black with no markings.

Now a young stallion, Levi was glad Voleur had the blood of Survey Corps steeds in his veins. The horse was going to need it. The young crime boss assembled the horse's tack for long riding, and then quickly rubbed him down before starting to saddle him. Voleur nudged his nose into Levi, sensing that something was different.

Levi pulled the black leather halter onto him.

"We're going for a ride, a long one," he told the horse. Now fully saddled, Voleur shook his mane with impatience. Levi made soothing sounds while he attached saddle-bags. He then took his black Raven cloak and put it on, pulling up the hood. He did not have the mask. He doubted he would ever need it again.

He mounted Voleur and touched his flank gently with his heels, and the horse sped off into the night. Levi didn't look back once.

…...

Erwin was on medical leave, due to his arm. It was worse than it looked, and it could take awhile to heal. In the meantime, he was at the military training camp. He had decided that if Levi showed up for this year's batch of trainees, he would stay and help the current Instructor, a burly man named Kevin Nords.

He was standing on a hill overlooking the camp, and potential trainees were already starting to flock onto the grounds. The camp didn't start for two more days. Nords grunted as he surveyed the future cadets.

"No one that looks particularly promising yet. I haven't even yelled at them yet and I can already tell there are a bunch of pansies out there... You can tell Shadis now that he shouldn't expect too many recruits from this batch in three years."

"I might be staying here and helping you, actually. Medical leave."

"Ahh."

Erwin noticed that the recruits all seemed to be looking in the same direction. A black horse had just come totting in. There was a young man riding it, but he was to far away for Erwin to see clearly.

The boy was wearing black pants and riding boots, and a long black cloak with the hood up. The other cadets gave him a wide berth as he walked the horse into the camp. When he dismounted, Erwin caught of glimpse of the white shirt and white cravat. He smirked.

"I'm definitely staying to help you train now," he told Nords.

…...

"You all think you're pretty damn special, joining the military and all of that!" yelled Nords. All of the cadets were standing completely still while saluting in the huge open area of the camp.

"I'm here to give you all an update, no matter who or what you were before you came here, it doesn't matter! You are all peasants and I will be your King for the next three years!"

Erwin watched from a distance as Nords conducted the tradition of scaring the shit out of the recruits. It was part of the military experience, frankly. You had to be reminded of your place and have respect for superiors drilled into your head early on. He got in everyone's faces, finding things about each one that played on their insecurities. Erwin hid a grin as he remembered his training days.

"It's one thing for girls to be short, but this is just sad!" Erwin looked back over at Nords. He had a feeling he knew who his Instructor friend had just started to yell at.

"And what the hell is this?!" Nords asked, flicking the cravat up to hit the young man's nose. He didn't flinch.

"Think it makes you some type of fancy-dandy? Where are you from, Sina? Who are you, soldier?"

"I am Levi from Wall Rose's Nedlay District!" Levi hollered back at the instructor, staring straight ahead and keeping his face from changing at all.

"What type of name is that? Were the hell is your last name? Who are you or I will assign you a new one!"

"I don't have an official last name! But I was known as Levi the Raven in Nedlay!" Levi shouted, his hard eyes glinting at Nords challengingly. There was a baited pause of silence throughout the camp, and Erwin bit back a chuckle as all of the cadets held their breaths.

"I like my name better. To me you are now Shortstuff! And you WILL address me as sir! Now why are you here, Shortstuff?

"Because it's something to do. _SIR._"

"Something to do?! SOMETHING TO DO?! THAT IS THE MOST PATHETIC REASON I HAVE EVER HEARD..."

…...

Levi didn't even listen to the reasons why the other recruits had joined or where they were from. He walked alone and away from the other cadets, sitting at one of the mess hall tables that was empty.

It had been different. Levi hadn't really known what to expect when he came here, but he should have expected the snide remarks about his height. And he had accepted the fact that he had to leave his criminal past mostly behind him. It wasn't going to earn him any respect here, at least not from his superiors. From his fellow cadets he sensed a mixture of fear and awe, and the occasional hateful glare. He sighed.

He really had to deal with three years of this crap?

He was picking at his bread when someone came over to him. It was a boy a head or so taller than himself. The boy plopped his tray down across from Levi.

"I'm guessing this spot isn't taken?" he asked. Levi shook his head, not looking away from his very interesting bread. The boy had a rambunctious air about him. His hair was a golden-orange, and his brown eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Nice 'ta meet 'cha, Shortstuff. Although I don't think you're _that _short...My sister at home is shortest person alive..." he said, his voice bright and cheerful.

Levi nodded, still not looking away from his bread. Finally, after a long moment, he looked up at him.

"Why are you sitting here?" he asked.

"Well the spot was open," the guy said, shrugging.

"I don't intimidate you with my past then?"

"What, that Raven business? Pah! You're not anymore, if you're here, that's how I see it."

"Once a criminal, always a criminal," sniffed another one of the recruits from a neighboring table. His light brown hair was fashionably long and tied back at his nape. Levi glanced over at the new speaker.

He was seated with a few other recruits, and appeared to come from a well-off background.

"We all know why the infamous Raven of the underworld is joining the military," the other cadet continued, "to get into the Military Police so he can expand his empire. That's all that matters to you crime scum is money."

"And money doesn't matter to you?" Levi asked, boring into the cadet with his stare. "From the looks of you, you're from within Sina, and are only here because you have to be. And joining the Military Police, which makes you no better than me if that's the case."

"How dare you! I come from a long line of noble Military Police officers, ones who actually do what the Military Police are supposed to do. Like cracking down on criminals like you."

"Have you ever faced a hardened criminal before?" Levi asked, letting his voice acquire an edge he reserved for dealing with enemies and rivals of the Flock. The boy who was sitting across from Levi, as well as the whole mess hall, was watching now, their meal forgotten.

The other cadet swallowed, using his best poker face to keep his face straight.

"Do you think you could kill me? I could kill you. It would be easy."

"I've been training since I was 10 for the military! You really think you could defeat me so easily?"

"And I first killed when I was seven," retorted Levi. The other cadet stuttered on whatever words he was going to say, failing to get them out. Levi turned back to picking at his bread. The boy across from blinked.

"So why did 'ya join the military, it was Levi, right?" he asked softly, since it was still quiet in the mess hall.

"Boredom. You?"

"So I can make a difference. I want the world to be a peaceful place where my little sister can be safe."

Levi and the boy across from him sat in silence.

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Levi finally asked. The boy grinned.

"I'm Jakob. Jakob Ral."

"Well then. Excuse me for a moment.." Levi leaned toward the other cadet again.

"Hey pretty boy, you wanna know the real reason why I joined up?"

The mess hall fell completely quiet again. The other recruit sighed and turned towards Levi.

"I already figured that out. And it's not 'pretty boy' it's Alec."

"You're wrong. See, I ran into a member of the military, and he convinced me to kill Titans instead of troublesome people."

…...

It was a week later, and the trainees were preparing to use 3DMG for the first time. They had already done the balancing exercises, which Levi had seen no point to, but passed nonetheless. Currently, he and Jakob were with some other trainees and several piles of gear.

"I have no idea how the heck to put this on..." said Jakob finally. A few others were getting the gear tangled in their harnesses. Levi rolled his eyes, and selected a set of gear. Without even thinking about it, he carefully attached everything the way it needed to be. The biggest difference from the gear he had learned to use over the years was the large blade holders on either side. Edgar had always removed them, or had added much smaller ones since they didn't need 12 blade replacements like soldiers did. Levi grazed a hand over one of the blade hilts. He could use a sword, but he was going to have to relearn everything since theses blades were connected to the gear itself.

"How did you get that on so fast?" Jakob asked Levi. Levi didn't answer, but instead showed him how to correctly put it on.

When everyone had somehow managed to get into their gear, they collected by the training grounds were Instructor Nords was waiting. Standing next to him was Captain Erwin.

Levi tried not to zone out to much during the instructions, since he already knew all of the basics. He did manage to learn a few things about the gear he hadn't previously known, but it was very little.

They were all standing in the forest, and the trees were going to be what they used the gear on.

"Alright then. Your prime goal right now is to NOT run into any trees right now," said Nords. Levi saw Erwin's shoulders shake from a soft laugh.

Levi had to admit, watching other cadets fail miserably was entertaining. The forest they were in was large enough so that all of the trainees could split into groups to figure out the gear. Levi was with Jakob and some other random recruits he didn't know the names of. Alec and a few of his cronies had been stuck in Levi's group as well.

"WooooaaaaaAAAAHHHHGH!" Jakob swung dangerously low, almost hitting Levi on the head. They were all flitting around the trees...or attempting to, at least. Levi remained grounded, waiting until they were a little less crazed in their flight paths before he joined them. He did not want to find out what happened when 3D gear cables became tangled.

"What's wrong, Raven? Never learned how to fly?" taunted Alec from about 20 meters up. He seemed to have the best hang of the equipment out of all of them.

"I'm waiting for all of you to get in control," Levi said matter-of-factually, dodging a young woman's failure to arch to left as he did so.

"SHORTSTUFF?! WHY ARE YOU NOT PARTICIPATING?"

Levi sighed. Instructor Nords and Captain Erwin had come over to check on their group.

…...

Erwin watched as Levi stared blankly at Kevin Nords.

"I would kill myself if I tried to join them right now," he said flatly. Nords huffed.

"That's it, it's time to make an example of you..." he ordered all groups to land. "Cadet Shortstuff will be giving a demonstration of what all of you idiots look like. Learn from his mistakes."

Erwin hid a smile. He knew the tactic Kevin was going to use. He would have Levi attempt to use his gear to go in a specific direction, and every time he messed up, which would be often, Nords would tell everyone what he did wrong.

Nords led them to a specially marked group of trees. The trainees all stood along the strip so they could watch Levi's entire journey. Nords used his own gear to whiz to the ending point.

"Make it to me, Shortstuff," he yelled smugly. A hundred meters back, Levi stood calmly, inspecting his gear. Erwin noticed the familiarity Levi seemed to have with the equipment.

_That's odd..._ he thought. Levi had done well in the balance belt exercise, and Erwin had a feeling Levi would pick up 3D maneuver gear fairly quickly. He wasn't expecting what happened next, however.

Levi launched himself with perfect balance and grace. He zipped towards Nords, knowing exactly when to change his cables and when to let off the gas. It wasn't anything too fancy, but it wasn't something a beginner should know how to do.

_So he's a natural at using it...not unheard of, but he won't be able to land right away. That's always tricky for all first timers..._

Erwin's jaw nearly dropped when the teen landed perfectly next to Nords.

"What were you saying about my mistakes?" he asked.

…...

"The boy's a prodigy, and if he can already use maneuver gear this well, he'll be far ahead of his fellow trainees most of the time."

Erwin stood in the background as Kevin Nords spoke with the camp's head officers. They were trying to decide what to do with Levi.

"We can't just let him sit in the camp for three years..." said one of the officers.

"Gentlemen, may I offer my suggestion?" asked Erwin, stepping forward. They nodded their consent. "Allow me to personally train him for a year here at the camp. It will be a highly accelerated course, and at the end of the year, test him. If's he's advanced enough, graduate him then."

They looked at each other, and shrugged. Why not?

…...

"So how goes training with Captain Erwin?" asked Jakob a few months later in their room. They bunked with two other young men.

"Yeah, I bet he's way more harsh than Nords," said the one called Gale.

"He's been outside the walls more than once, so he's gotta be tough," agreed the second one, Corbin. Levi shrugged. It was intense at times, but it was better than having to be with the slower trainees all the time.

"We didn't do that much today. We actually went over about a week's worth of bookwork that we had been putting off.." Levi's mind couldn't help but wander to the subject they had last talked about. Field strategies. Erwin was quite skilled in the area and was determined to cram those skills down Levi's throat.

"What do you do normally?" asked Gale.

"3D gear work makes up the bulk of our time, as well as using the blades in-flight. We don't work on hand-to-hand combat very often, only about once week. That's when I join you all for practice, since Erwin has his arm broken..." Levi could go on, like how he and Erwin always played chess once a day, but he wanted to get to sleep. Besides his actual training time with Erwin himself, he had a strict workout regime that Erwin had assigned. He needed all of the sleep he could get.

The months passed quickly, and Levi's heart hardened in a different way. It hardened to become a calculating Titan killing machine, as did the rest of his body. He gained muscles he didn't even know he had, and was literally becoming hard as rock everywhere. He had thought he was in shape before, but he realized how wrong he had been. The other icy parts of Levi's heart were warmed a little by the companions he gained while training, and it was impossible to not crack a smirk at Erwin's dry humor sometimes.

And then there was the matter of Erwin himself. Besides being his personal instructor, Erwin had become the stereotypical wise-guide and mentor for Levi. He taught the young man things he wouldn't and couldn't learn from anyone else. He also picked up the same dependency on coffee that the Captain had, even if it did taste terrible.

Erwin Smith was most likely the only person on the planet that Levi respected.

…...

"Congratulations, Levi. You have managed to graduate a full two years, and then some, ahead of your class. Rest assured that if you had graduated with the others, you would be number one with your scores."

Levi stood at attention before several higher-ups from the military and the training camp. The commanders from each division were present. Instructor Nords was speaking.

"With these scores, you have the option of joining any military branch you wish. I assume you know what branch you wish to join?"

"I do, sir," Levi said, lifting his chin a little to look at the commanders for the three branches. He wasn't familiar with the Military Police Commander, but he spotted Lewis and few other officers behind him. To the left was Dot Pixis, who commanded to Garrison. He held more power than just the Garrison, and was easily one of the most powerful people in the whole room. Levi's eyes fell onto Erwin, who stood with a few higher ranking officers of the Survey Corps. In front of them was Keith Shadis, their commander. Levi didn't know much about him, but his mind was made up.

"I will be joining the Survey Corps."

…...

"So," Levi turned towards the source of the voice. It was Lewis. "You joined the Survey Corps."

"Yes, I did."

"I always kinda knew you interrupted that conversation in the bar for more than one reason...it's always appealed to you, hasn't it?"

"The conversation is what sparked it. Just between us, I still haven't a effing clue as to why I even joined in the first place. But I guess I'm not bored anymore."

Lewis lazily saluted Levi. "It's been nice to see you again. Good luck out there, I guess. I don't have nearly enough guts to do what you're doing. So don't die out there."

"Don't worry. I made a promise to someone long ago I wouldn't die unless it was on my terms."

…...

**See what I did there? fufufufufufufu. Perfect Petra meet-up tool**

**now I gotta go sleep. excuse me while I crash**


	5. Reluctant Heroes

**So I was thinking, it would be really nice if I could send out like a newsletter or something to let you guys know what I'm doing with fanfiction... So if you want, head on over to DeviantArt and find me! Ignore my crappy art, but you can watch me to get journal updates. I'll do it if anybody messages me that they would do it. My user name is CaptainTabatha there as well**

**... **

They were galloping along a faint path, headed toward the area that Commander Shadis wanted to try and set up a tentative base at.

"Aberrant at 6 o'clock!" Hanji yelled. The young scientist was in his squad, and had welcomed Levi the most readily, recognizing him from the tavern in Nedlay. Levi turned his head in the specified direction, bracing himself for anything at this point.

The Titan was a tall one, easily measuring past 10 meters, but shorter than 15. It failed it's hands randomly as it bee-lined for the Survey soldiers.

"Zoe, Elmson, Zakarius! You're the closest!" barked their squad leader, Carlos Vutin.

"Yes sir!" three voices called out in unison. Hanji and two other soldiers from Levi's squad launched themselves at the beast, hooking their cables directly into its flesh. Levi watched their every move, observing how they used their gear without buildings or trees and noting how they did it. Hanji and a soldier Levi knew as Martin Elmson went in front of the brute in an effort to distract it as the third soldier, Mike Zakarius, swooped up around behind it. It looked as if everything was going smoothly until the Aberrant's flailing appendages went forward and knocked Martin out of midair. He flew towards the ground at an alarming speed. He hit the ground with a sicking thud. Mike slashed the Titan's nape, causing it to fall.

"Everyone GO! There's another one coming!" he yelled.

"Get back here, Zakarius, how could you possibly know tha-" Vutin started to say as a 15 meter class came stomping from the other side of a hill. It was upon poor Elmson in seconds.

"HEELLLLLLP!" the man cried in terror as the Titan brought his jaws to him. It was still walking as it did so. It was closest to Levi's side of the squad.

Without waiting for orders, Levi had launched his gear at the Titan in the manner he had just observed. With deadly accuracy he sped towards it, drawing his blades. He was acting upon pure instinct at this point, because for the second time in his entire life, Levi felt a sliver of fear. The only other time he had been truly afraid was when he had hidden in the closet all those years ago.

The Titan didn't seem to notice him, and was focused solely on devouring Martin. Levi swooped behind it using his momentum, ignoring the man's terrified screams. As he prepared for the fatal blow, a sound like no other pierced the air. Martin's screams had turned from terrified to pure agony and hysterics. In all his years, Levi had never heard a human utter such sounds, not even while he ruled the underground. The Titan had bitten down on the man's side.

Almost desperately, Levi slashed down on the giant. It was a successful kill, but Levi had been at an odd angle which caused Titan blood to spurt out and coat him. Levi was instantly coated in the steaming, stinking, and sticky hot filth as the Titan fell to the ground, still holding its victim. Levi didn't remember much after that point, but was vaguely aware of landing and walking back dazed to Voleur. Hanji was yelling something at him, but he didn't hear her. She grabbed him and his horse and pulled him towards Elmson. The woman threw Elmson across the back of Voleur behind the saddle.

"RIDE!" she yelled at Levi, snapping him out of his trance.

"Right!" he jumped onto Voleur and kicked his flanks, chasing after the squad. He could barely think straight with all of the Titan blood clogging his senses, even with it slowly vaporizing off of him.

…...

Levi stood in the Survey Corps' shower back at headquarters a few days later. They were back from the mission, and Levi had went straight to the showers. He felt filthy, and no matter how much he scrubbed, he could still feel the stink of the Titan coming from his very pores...

…...

"Carlos said that you killed that Titan as if you'd been at it for years," Erwin told Levi as he moved a pawn on the chess board. Levi pondered his next 5 moves he wanted to make, seeing if his strategy would work. It had been a few weeks since the mission.

"Vutin is a fool," Levi said, moving up his knight.

"How so?" asked Erwin, not taking his eyes off the board.

"He doesn't think. And he doesn't use each of us to our full ability," Levi said, calculating a new branch of moves based on the move Erwin had just made.

"How so?" Erwin asked.

"Mike Zakarius has a very strong sense of smell. He can literally smell the Titans coming before we can see them. Vutin thinks this is absurd, and doesn't listen to him."

"Is it true?"

"I've seen him do it," shrugged Levi. "He didn't put us into any type of formation, so an inexperienced soldier like Elmson was put on the edges and thereby killed."

"Ah."

"And he won't listen to suggestions from anybody," Levi finished.

"Check," Erwin said. Levi looked down at the board. He was stuck.

"Fine, you win again," he sighed. "I don't understand how this place is run. There are flaws everywhere."

Erwin gave him an amused look. "And you, barely 18, could fix the way the Survey Corps is run?"

"I ran a mob for six years. The basic principles of leadership and organization still apply. You would be surprised how similar they are, actually."

"So now you're going to strive to rule the Survey Corps."

"Actually, no," Erwin blinked at Levi, who continued, "I think you should run it. You know where to put people because you pay attention. Your squad has the highest kill tally and the least number of member deaths."

"There's something you're not saying. What is it?" Erwin asked, noticing Levi pause.

"You can get people to follow you. Hell, you got me here. That's something the Survey Corps needs the most, is someone who can get people to join."

…...

Levi stood with his squad members as they waited for the new recruits to come with the Commander. Levi had now been in the Corps for two years, and had quickly established he would allow a Titan to kill him.

The squad leader was still Carlos Vutin. Hanji, Mike, and Levi were the only members of the squad that were still alive from when Levi had joined. They had lost three members on the last mission a month ago, and they were going to receive new members from the graduates.

"How many do you think joined up?" asked Auruo Bossard, the only other squad member who had survived the last mission. He had joined the Corps last year. Levi shrugged. These recruits were in the class that he would have graduated from, had he not done so early.

"Squad 3," Shadis' voice called them. Levi and the others quickly saluted.

"Sir!"

"These are the newest members of your squad, Erd Gin, Jakob Ral, and Corbin Brey."

Levi should have known Jakob was going to join the Survey Corps. He vaguely remembered the other one from his brief year at the camp, but not that much. He remembered Corbin from bunking with him.

Once Shadis had left, Jakob and Corbin came over to Levi.

"So, still alive an' kickin'?" asked Jakob with a lopsided grin.

"Big surprise to see you here. I had a feeling you would follow me."

"Gale came too," spoke up Corbin, "remember him, from our bunks? We all decided we were gonna join together. If you could do it, hell, so could we."

"And I personally made sure to be higher in the top ten than that snob Alec," grinned Jakob. Levi gave a rare grin for that.

"Only advice I can give you guys is try not to die."

…...

"Remember that sister I told you about all of those years ago, on the first day of camp?" Jakob asked one night.

"No," Levi said flatly.

"Jeez, Levi. Get close to people much?" joked Corbin. They had all managed to survive yet another year in the Corps. Squad 3's death counter was at an all time low, and Levi suspected it was because of pure dumb luck on Shadis' part. Hanji Zoe and Mike Zakarius had been in their top ten of their graduating years. Levi was just Levi.

Auruo had been the lowest of the ten in his class, but after surviving a few years in the Corps, there were few better. Corbin had almost made it to the top ten, while Erd had been number 3 and Jakob number 4. It was simply just a collection of talent that was unheard of in the Survey Corps normally, and the only reason why they were all still alive.

"No. Not really," Levi said. Jakob rolled his eyes. They were all hanging out in their squad's barrack, except for Hanji and Mike.

"Well she joined the training camp a little after I did...much to our father's dismay. We all know she wants to follow me here."

"It's her choice," pointed out Levi.

"Yeah... She graduates next year, too."

"How old is she?" asked Corbin.

"She just turned 17. Can you guys think of any advice for her? She's having problems with hand-to-hand combat training right now..." said Jakob, reading from a letter.

"Oh, is that a letter! Let me see!" Corbin attacked Jakob, much to the amusement of the rest of the squad.

"Come on, Jakob, what does your dear sister have to say? Read it to us so we can give her proper advice," laughed Auruo. Jakob shoved Corbin off before clearing his throat.

"Fine... _Dear Jakob,_

_I'm glad to hear that none of your team members were injured in your last mission. I feel like I already know them! I'm having a bit of trouble with training right now...Everyone's so much larger than me, and I'm having trouble keeping up in the combat portion of our training. Do you know of anything I can do?_

…..I'm not gonna read the whole letter..." he said as he finished. Corbin pouted.

"So is she just short, or what?" asked Erd.

"She's short and petite. I don't know how she's made it this far into training as it is."

"Tell her her size can be used to her advantage. Since she's small, she has greater agility than her opponents. She should focus on pressure points, and she should start doing extra physical training like extra laps and exercises to build strength," Levi said, his voice bored.

Everyone looked at him.

"Well, you would know...being so...well, short..." said Erd. Levi rolled his eyes as he sipped at some tea.

"Tell her it also applies to 3DMG," added Levi.

Jakob laughed and started to write his letter.

…...

_Hey sis,_

_Remember my thug friend I told you about? Well unless you've grown, he's like an inch taller you and he actually had some advice for your problem. _

_Your size is a strength, according to him. Since you're small, you're quick, which is definitely true since you used to dart around like crazy when we were little. Use your agility against your target. He also mentioned that you might want to start training on your own to get stronger. Running laps and exercises was all he said, but I think he was putting it lightly. The one year we were at the camp together I remember him working out all of the time, and it wasn't for wimps, I'll tell you that. He said it would also help you with your maneuver gear._

_In other news, tell dad not to worry. We aren't going on another expedition until the end of the year, and remind him I'm with some of the best. We'll be trying to establish a permanent base outside Wall Maria so humanity can start to get a foothold on the outside, and maybe even start building a fourth wall or something. I wonder what they would name it? I have no clue where they got the names for the three we've got anyway.._

_But other than that, there isn't much else going on around here, except that Auruo's started to wear a cravat like Levi. Levi is not amused. It's actually quite hilarious._

_Until next time,_

_Jakob_

…_..._

"Regroup! Everyone regroup!" Keith Shadis yelled. Levi grimaced. It was not looking good. They were currently in a forest fighting a huge group of titans. Levi landed on a branch out of their reach next to Erwin.

"Why are there so many?" he asked, taking a quick breather. Erwin checked to see how much fuel he had left.

"I don't know...but have you noticed that there has been more Titans on every expedition we've taken in this last year? Something's not right about this.

"How many more men is Shadis going to waste before he orders a retreat? These deaths aren't serving us at all," Levi said, frowning.

"There's no way to tell. Better regroup like he said..."

Levi nodded, and jumped down.

…...

He eventually found Jakob, who had just killed a 10 meter class.

"This is madness," he growled, tears in the corner of his eyes. Levi nodded.

"I think Keith is considering retreat, since he's ordered a regroup."

"Gale's dead. Corbin's leg is broken."

"...Come on," Levi wasn't sure what to say. Levi wasn't too close to Gale, and at least Corbin wasn't dead. Out of everyone here Jakob was the only one he would truly consider a friend. They launched their cables and whizzed towards the bulk of the Corps. Other members of their squad were nearby.

"Leader, the way is becoming blocked!" said Hanji. She was right. Several Titans were blocking the way between squad 6 and the rest of the Corps.

"They'll leave us behind if necessary," growled Vutin. "Now, let's see if we can break through."

Squad 6 zigzagged around the Titans, slicing at the weak spots. It looked as if they might get an upper hand when two Aberrants came from behind them. It was no wonder Mike couldn't smell them coming, with all of the steaming Titan corpses that surrounded them.

"Arrrrrrhhhhg...!" Levi's head whipped around to see Vutin had been grabbed in the confusion.

"Someone! Get Vutin!" Erd yelled from several meters away, to far to do anything. Levi cursed under his breath. He was also to far away to do anything, and from the looks of it, the Squad Leader's gear had been damaged when he had been grabbed. It was a lost cause...Levi had to look away as one of the Aberrants made a grab for him. He quickly launched his way straight up and flipped 180 degrees to get behind it for a killing blow. He rode its shoulders as it fell to the earth, and that's when he saw it.

Jakob was attempting to save Vutin. The second Aberrant was closing in, running just as fast as 3D gear. Levi yelled something, his voice fading into the commotion as he watched. He threw himself in Jakob's direction.

He wasn't fast enough. The Aberrant snatched Jakob out of the air and wasted no time in bringing the man to his jaws. Levi got close enough to attack, and the last thing he remembered hearing was a sicking wet crunch as his vision went red and he blacked out.

…...

"Commander..."

"Not now, Erwin, we need to get organized so I can order a retreat."

"No Keith, look. You have to see this," Erwin said, his voice a mixture of urgent and disbelief. Shadis finally looked up to see that the surviving Corps members around him were all staring in the same direction.

It looked as if Titans were dropping down on their own accord. He could see that Squad 6 was making their way towards them, and leading them was not Carlos Vutin, but Levi. Shadis stared in shock as the short soldier whizzed up and down the Titans, moving so fast he was hard to see sometimes. He whirled, slicing muscles and tendons as he went, lowering each Titan and then hacking into their napes with a ferociousness that left the Commander with his mouth agape.

Titan after Titan fell, until the Survey Corps had no more reason to gallop their horses anymore. Levi had killed all the Titans. He landed with the rest of the squad, who looked shaken. Hanji went up to Levi, and waved a hand in front of him. He glanced at Hanji, and looked slightly confused for a moment before collapsing onto the ground.

"Someone get him in a cart!" she yelled.

"What the hell happened?" demanded Erwin. Shadis was still to shocked to speak. Hanji roughly rubbed at her eyes with a fist.

"They...ate Vutin...Jakob tried to save him, but an Aberrant came...and..." she broke down, not able to continue. Corbin spoke up softly from Erd's side, who was helping him stand.

"Jakob's dead. Eaten. Levi sorta...went berserk."

Erwin nodded. He helped Mike gently carry and place Levi into one of the more empty carts. Erd helped Corbin limp over to the cart as well.

"...Everyone, retreat," Shadis was finally able to say.

…...

Levi's eyes burst open and he sprang up. He didn't know where he was.

"Jakob!"

"He's dead," came a monotone voice from beside him. Levi looked over, finding Corbin sitting in a cart with him. Corbin's leg had been temporarily set in a splint.

The sound of a crunch resonated within Levi's mind. He remembered.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You went nuts. No one's ever seen anyone do that to that many Titans, blood rage or not."

"I thought those were just stories told by bored soldiers.."

"You're a hero, you know. You made our escape all the more easy by killing all of them."

"I don't want to be a hero..."

"None of us do."

…...

Levi passed out again sometime later, because when he opened his eyes again, he could tell they were within the walls.

"Morning sleepy," came Hanji's voice. Levi turned to see the scientist riding along side his cart. Corbin was snoozing.

"We just came in through the Shiganshina District. Shadis had a meltdown when Moses' mother came looking for him..." the normally cheerful woman was grim.

"I think he might resign."

"Good," spat Levi. Hanji looked over at him.

"It was his fault we stayed there so long in the first place...Now we can get a concomitant leader..."

"Erwin is actually the highest ranking officer left alive," she said drily. Under different circumstances, Levi would have grinned.

There was no way he would find a reason to grin ever again, in his opinion. He had learned his lessen. Get close to people, and they die. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

…...

Levi wasn't really hurt anywhere. His body had just been exhausted. Back at headquarters, he sat staring at Jakob's bunk for a long while. Two letters sat on the bunk, obviously left by Jakob. One was addressed to his sister, and the other was to him.

Levi finally caved and opened it.

_Levi, _

_If you're reading this, then I didn't make it. I write these letters before every mission, and get rid of them when we return. _

_Well I didn't return this time, and so you found it._

_Don't morn me to much, unless I died a really lame death that wasn't even Titan related. That would suck. I really hope you didn't die out there too, Levi, cause then who knows who's reading this. Auruo, stop now, you snooping son-of-a-bitch. Corbin, if this is you, it was fun. We really got Alec's goat, didn't we? And Erd, I didn't know you that well, but I can tell you kick ass. Keep it up. And Hanji, for the love of Sina CALM DOWN WOMAN._

_Back to hopefully alive Levi. I know you've been through the wringer, with your background. I don't know what the hell happened to you to make you so distant to people, but seriously. Stop it. You're in the Survey Corps now, and us humans gotta stick together. Don't push away friends, Levi. Embrace them, because we could all die tomorrow. Look at it this way. All of the ones that you have lost. I don't know who you've lost, but anyway. Use them. Use us. Let us give you strength. Strength to wipe every last filthy Titan off of this planet. _

_I only have one other thing to ask of you. My sister will most likely be joining the Corps this next season. Look after her for me, since I'm no longer here. I think you'll get along. She's like a prettier and nicer version of me! _

_Admit it, we were friends._

_See you on the other side._

_Jakob Ral_

Levi calmly folded the letter and placed it within his drawer. He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking over what Jakob had said. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Erd and Mike in the doorway. They looked even more haggard than earlier, if that was even possible.

"Levi."

"What?" he really wanted to be left alone right now...

"A 50 meter Titan just broke through Wall Maria in the Shiganshina District," said Mike, his voice stressed.

"...What?"

…...

**So yeah, you might have seen this coming. I admit I made Jakob just to kill him off...still depressing to write though. **

**And the time has come, readers. Make an author happy with a few more reviews, maybe? they make me smile. and to those of you who review all the time, I LOVES YOUS!**


	6. Little Rock

**IT'S THE CHAPTER YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR.**

** READ**

**\/**

_Petra_,

_I'm sorry. If you're reading this then I didn't make it. Tell Father I'm sorry as well. He'll understand. I'll tell mother hello for everyone. I died for humanity, and for a cause I believed in. I decided that I can die happy a while back because of this. _

_I hope my death doesn't change your mind about joining the Survey Corps. I know you're graduating soon, and wanted to join to be closer to me. And now that I won't be there...Join anyway. The Corps always need strong soldiers. And you're the strongest person I know, and I'm friends with Levi. When mom died all those years ago, it nearly broke me, but you were strong, and your strength gave me new strength. So now I'll return some of that strength to you for the years ahead. If you join the Corps, you're going to need it._

_And think of this, even if I won't be there, my friends will be. Auruo, Erd, Corbin, Hanji, Mike, and Levi. Gale too, even if he's not in the same squad. And others. You'll love all of them, sis, and I know they'll all love you. _

_Which brings me to my last request. Remember my thug friend, the one that gave you short advice a while back? He acts tough and cool, but with me gone, I worry how he will react. Work your magic on him. I've never met someone who didn't eventually warm up to you, but be warned. Levi might take awhile. But do me a favor, Petra. Look over him for me._

_Goodbye, little sister._

_~Jakob_

_PS- Levi has a weakness for hot, caffeinated beverages_

…_..._

Petra Ral felt her eyes watering up as she read the letter. She scanned over it again and again. The other girls in the barrack sensed something was wrong. Everyone was already glum from the devastating news a few days prior. Wall Maria and all of it's territory had fallen, and thousands had died.

But the normally cheerful Petra was tearing up over a letter. Whatever it was, it had to bad.

"Petra?" asked one of the girls, Freya. Petra wiped the tears.

"Jakob's dead," she sniffed. The other three girls in the room stiffened. Petra had often red to them some of her brother's antics in her letters from him. To think that he was gone...

"Was...was it when Maria fell?" asked a girl with flaming red hair.

"No," Petra shook her head, "it was about a day before, while they were on a mission..."

Her room mates were at a loss for words.

…...

It was the night of their graduation ceremony, which was about two weeks after Petra had learned of her brother's death, that she overheard some other cadets talking in the mess hall.

"Did you hear about that Survey Corps soldier?"

"Oh! Are you talking about the one who killed an entire group of Titan single handed? Yeah, I have a cousin in the Survey Corps that told me all about it."

"How many was it? I heard it was 15 all at once."

"I heard it was more like 20."

"He's gotta be the strongest soldier ever..."

Petra knew they had to be talking about Levi. Although she had never met him, she knew from her brother's letters that Levi was the only one with enough skill to pull something like that off.

"Oi! Petra!" called a cadet from across the room. He had graduated at the top of the class, and he was surrounded by other members of the top ten. "Come over here for the top student toast!"

Petra sighed. "Sorry guys, I'll be right back," she told her friends at the table. They waved her off.

"Go do your duty," laughed her red-headed bunk mate, Jane. Freya and the others didn't mind either. Petra walked over to the top ten.

"And number four joins us, and we are complete!" cheered another boy, Quan. He had graduated 5th in the class, right below Petra. The valedictorian, Daren, raised his mug for the toast. Petra and the other top ten followed suit, but Petra was barely paying attention. These days, every single member of the top ten joined the Military Police, and she felt awkward standing up with them.

Daren made a short, silly speech, to which he received many approving cheers. After everyone had taken the drink for the toast, conversations erupted amongst the mess hall once again. Petra wanted to go back to her friends, but she knew she would be stopped...

They were currently talking about what they thought life would be like when they joined the Military Police. Petra felt her blood quicken in mild anger and frustration. They were just so pathetic!

"Hey Petra! You've been super quiet this whole time! What are you planning on doing after all of this?"

Petra glared at the speaker, a black-haired girl nearly twice her height that had graduated 7th. The other top ten members quieted down to hear what Petra had to say.

"Where else would I be going?" Petra asked, glaring at all of them. Only her friends at the other table knew she planned on going to the Survey Corps.

"So we'll be seeing ya in Sina, then!"

"Did I say I was joining you pigs?" she said, snapping. Her friends watched from their table, hiding their bemused looks behind their drinks. The mess hall fell silent again. Petra was known to be an easy-going and usually friendly person who always smiled. To hear her snarl at the Military Police-bound trainees was shocking.

"Now that Wall Maria has fallen, anyone who joins the Military Police is double the coward they would have been before, just fleeing to the center. I had a brother, one of the best members of the Survey Corps, who died right before the fall on a mission outside. He died for humanity, but if the best humanity has to offer is you fools, then I'm afraid my brother died in vain."

She narrowed her amber eyes at them. "My brother also had a goal. He wanted to make a difference. I originally joined the military to be closer to him and help him with his goal. But now that he's gone, died while protecting all of us, it has only strengthened my resolve to join the Survey Corps _and make a difference._"

Petra walked back to her table in a huff. Her friends welcomed her in silence, but no words were needed for them to give her their support. They were all going to join the Corps as well.

People were getting ready to speak again when one of the top ten members stood. He grabbed his food and walked over to Petra's table. It was eerily silent as everyone watched him. It was the graduate who had finished 3rd, right above Petra. His name was Gunter, but no one knew much about him. He was a kind of loner.

He sat down at her table and proceeded to eat as if nothing had happened. Finally, he looked up to meet the table's stares.

"What? I never said I was joining them either. I didn't know anyone else was planning on joining the Corps, but now that I do, I think I'll sit here."

…...

"By joining the Survey Corps, you have gained the utmost respect from me and your fellow Scouts," Erwin told the small group who had joined that year. Petra and the others stood in a line, saluting. There were just ten of them. There was Petra and Gunter, and there was Freya, Jane, and Sharon, her bunk mates. There was also five other young men.

Petra knew from her letters that some things had changed within the Corps since her brother's death. The most obvious was the fact that Erwin Smith was now the commander. And since Keith Shadis was gone, changes in the way things were done was likely.

"In the past, you would have immediately been placed within a squad. Not anymore. You will be trained further, by one of my best men. He has recently come to be known as Humanity's Strongest Soldier. You all belong to him and his subordinates for the next few months."

Petra straightened her back more. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure advancing towards them. For Petra, time slowed down. All she could see was _him._

It had to be him. The cravat, perfectly tied and crisply white. The pitch-black hair. The steel-blue eyes, and that blank, yet stern, expression. At that moment, Petra knew. In a way, she had always known, back from when she had just been reading about him in letters. She admired this man, she respected this man...she loved this man. And she, Petra Ral, was to look after him for her brother. She would do more than that. She would devote herself to him.

…...

The newly promoted Captain Levi stepped out to the new members. Erwin wanted to train the new recruits before they even thought about leaving the wall. But this training would be miles above anything they had just completed at the camp. This was the Survey Corps, and playtime was over.

He walked directly in front of all of them, clasping his hands behind his back. His steely eyes swept over the lot, and they paused over a certain recruit. It had to be her. She had the same hair, that golden-orange. And she was tiny, possibly the only person Levi had met that was shorter than himself and within ten years of his age.

One of the male recruits looked familiar as well, but Levi couldn't place his finger on it. The boy was only a little taller than Levi, making him shorter than all of the recruits except for Jakob's sister.

"I am Captain Levi. I will be training you. I want all of you to tell me your name, age, and reasons for joining the Survey Corps."

The first one tightened his salute.

"James Coy, 16, sir! I joined because I want to help humanity!"

"Do you think you can do that?" asked Levi, walking over so he could stand directly in front of the boy.

"Yes I do, sir!"

"Hm. Next, you!"

"Jane Kato sir! I'm 19 sir!" she said, her frizzy red hair currently tied back into a tight bun.

"Why did you join, Jane?" asked Levi in a calm voice. He could tell his apparent unintrest was unnerving them.

"Because I would feel guilty anywhere else, sir!" she said, scrunching her eyes closed. Levi moved on, not letting them see he was slightly amused by the effect he had on them.

"Gunter Shulz! Sir! 20, sir! I am here to be a soldier, sir!"

"A serious one, are we?" Levi asked.

"..." Gunter didn't look away, but the Captain could tell he was at least a tad uncomfortable.

"It's not important. Now, who are you?"

"Clive Rowling, I'm 17 sir! I joined the Survey Corps because I've always wanted to join it!"

"That's a child's dream, soldier. Didn't you realize you would most likely die?"

"Yes, sir, I did. I joined anyway."

"I see," Levi went to the next one, fully aware that _she _was after this one. "Who are you?"

"Freya Ryder, 18, sir. I joined to help keep my comrades alive."

"And you would make a difference to a Titan?"

"Nothing messes with my friends and comrades," she snarled. Levi believed her. He moved on.

He stood in front of her, fully aware that she was looking up to see him. He knew who she was, but he didn't. Confusion erupted within the short Captain. He had discovered that upon Jakob's death and letter, long dead emotions had reared their heads. Levi was still trying to force them all back into their frozen cage. He had no need to feel anything.

"You," was all he managed to get out. Her golden eyes looked into him, determined.

"I am Petra Ral, 18 years old, sir!" Levi could not get over the fact of how impossibly tiny the girl was. Jakob had always said she was small, but how on earth did she even manage to use 3D gear without breaking?

"And why did you decide to come here, Ral?" He did want to know her reasons. Her eyes locked with his.

"Because I want to make a difference."

It took all of his composure not to take a step back. Jakob's words from the training camp echoed in his mind. They were the same.

"Don't think we'll go easy on you because of him," he finally said. Only then did she look away.

"I would hate you if you did, sir."

Levi found himself at a loss for words but hid this fact by moving on. It was the boy who seemed familiar.

"Name, soldier!"

"Franz Finch, 20! I joined because I don't want to be called a coward, sir!"

"What's wrong with being a coward?"

"I grew up on the streets, and I was taught to be strong." For some reason, Levi suddenly remembered who this boy was.

"Finch...you've grown."

"As have you..." Finch dropped his voice lower, "...Raven, sir."

"Don't expect special treatment from me either. And don't ever call me by that name again."

"Understood, Captain."

"And you, who are you?"

"Sharon Hutton, 16! I am here because it is the right thing to do!"

"The right thing?"

"Yes sir!"

"If you say so...you! State your name!"

"Isaac Neil! 19! I am here because it is honorable!"

"Tch. Don't get me started on honor..."

Levi was now in front of the last recruit.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Jasper Yelnats, 18 years! I am here because I want to help retake Wall Maria!"

"Oh, so you're one of them..." Levi went back to face all of them again.

"You are all here to do one thing. Don't tell anyone other wise. You are here to wipe every last filthy Titan off the face of the planet."

"I thought the Survey Corps was here to help humanity?" asked Sharon. Levi allowed himself to smirk.

"Frankly, that _is _the best way to help humanity."

…...

Petra woke before the sun. It had been about a week since she had joined the Survey Corps, and this was the first day she had time to get up this early. She was going to make coffee.

Coffee was expensive, and even more so since the lands within Wall Maria had fallen. Coffee trees were rare enough as it was. Luckily, all three branches of the military were rationed coffee.

Petra found the coffee pot and rinsed it out. She located the coffee, which was still in bean form. Sighing, she located the coffee grinder and proceeded to grind the beans until she had the desired grind.

Petra then prepared the coffee, using what was known to her family as the secret Ral woman's coffee technique. The most anyone knew about it was that it involved boiling the coffee somehow. The scent of brewing coffee started to waft through the building they had been assigned to.

…...

Levi finished getting dressed, adjusting his cravat in the mirror. He had received new private quarters upon his promotion to Captain, so he was alone. He heard voices coming from the dining room, as well as laughter. Deciding to see what all of the fuss was about, he stepped out of his room and descended down the stairs.

The building his quarters were in was one of the squad houses or barracks. Each squad had it's own small building that was connected to the main building. Upstairs was where the squad leader and any other officers had their rooms, as well as offices. Downstairs was the kitchen, mess hall, and normal squad members' shared bunk rooms.

When Levi entered the dining room, he was struck by the scent of coffee. That was odd. When they usually brewed coffee, it had a smell when brewing, but never that strong. One of the new scouts was cooking because it was their turn for kitchen duty, and the others was sitting down at the tables already, talking. Petra was making coffee.

"Captain!" someone noticed him and they all saluted. He waved them off. The other veteran members of his squad ignored him for the most part. He found a spot by them and sat down.

The food was done shortly, and Levi simply started to eat. He was wondering where his coffee was when Petra announced she was almost done.

"Is there any particular way you all like your coffee?" she asked. Everyone shrugged. Coffee always tasted somewhat bitter, no matter how much milk and sugar they put in it.

"Just get it as strained as you can and as not bitter as you can," said Erd, who was currently sitting next to Levi.

Within a few minuets, Petra came around to everyone, filling up everyone's cups.

"There's already a little sweetener in it, so taste it first and then put what you want in it, okay?" she informed them. When she came to the table of the senior members, she simply smiled warmly and filled each of their mugs with rich brown liquid. Levi picked up his cup almost immediately, needing to get some caffeine in his system. Petra went and sat down.

Levi swirled the drink under his nose. He usually didn't put anything in his coffee, much to the disgust of his comrades. He didn't drink coffee because he liked it, he drank it because it was hot and woke him up. Without even thinking, Levi took a sip.

His eyes widened in shock. Everyone's eyes were, he just hadn't noticed. This coffee...was freaking amazing.

It wasn't bitter. At all. Whatever bitterness that had lingered in the brew had been covered up by whatever sweetener Petra had used...and just the right amount for Levi's tastes.

Everyone turned to look at Petra.

"What?" she asked, trying to eat her food.

"You are the coffee goddess," Auruo stated simply. Everyone nodded in agreement. Corbin looked to Levi.

"What do you think of it, Levi?" Levi found the eyes in the room had now shifted to him. He took another sip, his face betraying nothing.

"I think Petra should brew the coffee fro now on."

In the back of his mind he wondered if she could make tea as well. Tea was his preferred drink of choice, but coffee was better for mornings. He would just have to wait and see.

…...

**So I would have updated sooner, but i finally started watching the second season to a show i was UBER behind on, while working on an essay for school. On top of all of that, friggin Homestuck attacked me and there was a rather epic homestuck image battle on facebook...and I had to build a Magic deck, MY FIRST ONE EVER, and other geeky shenanigans**

**I'm about 70-80% done with the next chapter, I just have to figure out how I'm gonna end it...and write more essays...X-P **

**And a note about the title of this chapter...Petra loosely translates to "little rock" in I forget what language...so yeah**

**AND YOUR REVIEWS ARE AWESOME! SOME HAD ME ROTFLMAO**


End file.
